Who They Really Are
by autumn midnights
Summary: It seems as though Slytherins are stereotyped as always being Dark or evil, and it bothers Lily and Scorpius to no end - especially when it's Lily's own brother insulting her House. Lily/Scorpius friendship, rated T for language. Slytherin!Lily.


Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. Not me. In addition, the line 'Please remind me who I really am' is from Kelly Clarkson's song Dark Side, and I don't own that either. The lyric is not used directly, but it definitely inspires part of this piece.

Author's Note: For the Dark Side Competition on HPFC.

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It was a beautiful day outside. The sun was shining, but it wasn't extremely hot. Instead, it was comfortable enough to lounge around outside, and that's what most of the Hogwarts students were doing. It was the beginning of May, and although pretty much everybody should have been studying for exams, the weather was much too distracting for that. A few students could be seen with books in hand - like Molly and Rose, for instance - but most of them were simply laying around talking with friends.

Lily Potter was just about to head outside. She had went into the kitchens just minutes before in order to snag a treat from the house-elves; they were always willing to give food, especially to the daughter of Harry Potter. He was regarded as a hero by them - well, he was a hero, after all - and suffice it to say, Lily loved taking advantage of that.

She strolled through the Entrance Hall, her Slytherin tie swinging slightly as she moved. Since it was after classes but before supper, it was much less likely that she - and any other student, to be honest - would get in trouble if she had violated the wardrobe. She didn't mind wearing the tie, however; anything to rub it in people's faces that there was a Potter, a daughter of a war hero, in Slytherin.

Lily groaned inwardly when she saw James leaning casually against the door, looking as though he was posing for a photo shoot. James was very much like his namesake - a Gryffindor fanatic, cocky and proud. She supposed he was also noble and brave, and whatever good qualities made up Gryffindor House, but she tended to see the other side of him much more. He was her brother, after all, and they bickered and fought like most siblings, their House rivalry only intensifying it.

"Hey, little sis," James said as she approached. He always seemed to feel the need to lord it over her, as though being three years older and a head taller actually mattered. "What are you doing?"

"Talking to you," she replied dryly.

"You know what I meant."

"Going outside to meet Scorpius." It was easier to be honest sometimes, at least with James. He would have probably checked on her anyway, overprotective brother that he was. Just another annoying trait from him, she mused. It was as though she was a defenseless nine-year-old Muggle as opposed to a teenager who was top of her class in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and had picked up many things - not all of them good - from her Slytherin friends. Shaking her thoughts away from that - Merlin, it was a good thing James wasn't a Legilimens - she turned her attention back to her brother.

"Scorpius?" James pulled a face, looking very much like a sulking toddler. "Scorpius Malfoy? You're friends with him?" He looked rather repulsed at the idea of anybody, much less his little sister, being friends with Scorpius.

Lily sighed, wishing she had never gotten into this conversation with James. Like many people, especially Gryffindors, he carried with him prejudice against those whose families had been on the Death Eaters' side in the Second Wizarding War. He was also prejudiced against Slytherins in general, although he had forced himself to change that slightly when Lily was Sorted there. She was probably the only Slytherin he actually had conversations with, and even those were often tinged with rivalry and bickering and annoyance. "Yes. I'm friends with Scorpius Malfoy."

"Why the hell would you be friends with him? He's a _Malfoy."_ He spat the word the way some people would say Mudblood, as though it was filthy and vile. "You know what they did. I know you overheard Aunt Hermione talking to Rose, telling her about what happened at Malfoy Manor -"

"Scorpius wasn't even born!" Lily protested. "He wasn't even born then. It's not like I'm saying that wasn't wrong, James. I know Bellatrix Lestrange was a foul bitch, and yes, I know that Scorpius's grandparents and his father just stood there and watched Aunt Hermione be tortured, but that doesn't mean Scorpius would do the same! Besides, his mother fought against the Carrows in her own way, and she was there at the Battle of Hogwarts."

"She probably had some ulterior motive for doing that," he snapped back. "Besides, I would bet you my whole Quidditch team that Scorpius would also just stand there if it meant his own life would be saved. You know Slytherins - their own survival is more important than anything else, they'd all just stand there, and..." He let the words trail off.

Lily was practically shaking with anger. "Are you implying," she began, her voice low, "that I, too, would watch somebody go through the Cruciatus Curse without doing absolutely anything if it meant my own life would be spared? Because first you started off insulting Scorpius, but then, guess what? You insulted my House, basically saying any of us would do the same thing. I'm a Slytherin, James. When you said that 'you know Slytherins, their own survival is more important than anything else'...well, I'm in that group as well."

"Shit, Lily, I didn't mean that, I'm sorry." He actually did look apologetic, and she felt the tiniest temptation to forgive him immediately. That was taken away, though, by his next words. "I didn't mean for you to be included - I meant the rest of them, like Malfoy. I know that you're better than them. Lily?" He called after her, but she had already wrenched the door open, flinging it back as she stormed outside. If there had been a crowd in her way, there was no doubt they would have been bowled over.

As it was, a younger student approached her - for what reason, Lily had no idea - but he scurried away quickly as soon as he saw the fury in her eyes. She was beyond pissed off, she was beyond angry. How dare James insult first her friend, and then her House? He was under the mindset that all Slytherins were evil, and adjusting that for her had been difficult. She never thought, though, that he would say something like that. Sure, it was true that Slytherins had a strong sense of self-preservation; that didn't mean that all of them would have done would Scorpius's father did in that situation.

She saw a head of blond hair near the lake, and stomped in that direction, still angry about James's words. He was her brother - he was family - he had no right to say those things. The Weasley-Potter children had always been very tight-knit and close, working through disagreements and arguments, but right now she felt nothing but hatred for him. Sure, he had apologized, but then proceeded to insult her House and her friend again, saying that she was better.

Lily sighed heavily as she sat down on the grass next to Scorpius. "Are you all right?" he asked, a concerned expression on his face. "You seem angry."

"I am." It came out harsher than she had intended, and he recoiled slightly. "Not at you," she added, forcing herself to make her tone seem nicer. "At my brother."

"James?" he guessed. Al and Lily rarely had the sorts of quarrels that she did with James, mainly because Al couldn't be bothered. He never started anything, and if Lily started something with him, he would find a way to get out of it.

"Of course," she answered, leaning back on her elbows. "Of course. Merlin, I just...I can't believe the things he said about...you. And Slytherin House, and by definition, me."

"What did he say?" Scorpius's concerned expression had returned.

"He mentioned what happened to Aunt Hermione at Malfoy Manor." Lily stared up at the clouds, not wanting to make Scorpius feel any more awkward. "He talked about how your dad didn't do anything. And he said that all Slytherins would have done the same, because we put our own lives above everything else. Then I got insulted by it, so he said that he didn't think it applied to me, just you and the rest of our House, and that I was better than that. He still can't accept that I'm in this House. And now, apparently, he can't accept that I'm friends with a Malfoy."

The blond boy was quiet for a moment, and he too stared upwards at the thin white clouds floating overhead. When he spoke, his voice was quiet. "Many people can't. Those people who fought against Death Eaters...they're as prejudiced against us as the Death Eaters were to Muggle-borns. It's like the situation's been reversed."

"I don't see why they can do this," Lily said. "James and his friends, several other Gryffindors. There are plenty of people in Slytherin who are related to Death Eaters, but none of you were born when all that shit happened. It doesn't have anything to do with, well, any of us. Hell, they weren't part of the war either. Just because we're in Slytherin doesn't mean we're all Death Eaters Part Two."

Scorpius shrugged. "It seems like that's what everybody else expects. That we're all Dark and evil, plotting our own Voldemort-like plans. I think you get it a little less, being Harry Potter's daughter, but I know everybody thinks of me as just a sly, cunning bastard who would kill you as soon as look at you." He sighed. "It's as though that's all people see of me. Just a Malfoy. A Slytherin. So I've got to be evil in their minds."

"It's stupid," Lily proclaimed, stretching out even farther so that her full five-foot-three-inch form was sprawled across the grass. "That's not who we Slytherins are. That's not who you really are."

"Then by all means, please remind me who I really am," he said. His tone had an edge of snark to it, but Lily could tell that he honestly meant it. "Because I seem to have forgotten."

Lily sat up and moved so that she could look him in the eye. "You're a fantastic Quidditch player, the best Chaser I've ever seen on the Slytherin Quidditch team, at any rate. You're an excellent Potions student. You're hilarious and witty when you want to be. Your friends are really important to you, and so's your family. You're the opposite of what people think of you," she finished, her voice softer.

He smiled slightly. "Thanks. It's good to know at least you don't think what everybody else thinks."

Lily grinned. "I'm a Weasley-Potter in Slytherin. It wouldn't make any sense for me to think like everyone else." Her expression turned a bit more serious, and she gestured to them. "Right here, just you and I, this is when we can be who we really are. There's nobody else around, no one to tell us how we should act or speak or behave. I can be who I am with you."

"I can be who I am with you," he said, laying his hand over hers. "You're the best, Lily."

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**Aww, they're so sweet...I love Lily/Scorpius, either as friends or as a couple, and Slytherin!Lily shows up in practically every next-gen story I write. Plus, I love the song Dark Side by Kelly Clarkson...all in all, this was fun to write. Anyway, this is a oneshot and will not be continued. Thanks for reading!**


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